Befriending My First Love
by xXRottWeilerXx
Summary: Ch7/Last chap/ :"Nanoji-san calls me Sakuno, Taichi-kun calls me Sakuno, Yuya-chan calls me Sakuno, even Momo-chan senpai and Eiji-senpai too… But why have you never called me by my given name?"
1. Chapter 1

**Befriending My First Love**

**A/N: Heya guys! Lemme explain some things about this fic. This isn't a long story, it consists of seven scenes whereby the chapters are not continuous, so you can say this fic contains drabbles set during Ryoma's high school years. I repeat, the chapters are not continuous. This fic is also a story that I've chosen to submit in a contest on ryosakufandom(dot)webs. Please read and review. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this note. Luv ya!**

**#1**

"Ne, what d'ya say?"

Sakuno gulped as her back collided with the wall. Her nervous brown orbs looked around the empty street, her shiny brown hair reflecting a sliver of light from a nearby streetlamp. A gust of cool air breezed past her head, reminding her that spring was almost at its end, and summer would be coming very soon. Seeing no one to help her, she thought about tightening the dark blue coat she wore and to push past the big male looking down at her. But then, her plan faltered away as she looked up into a pair of dark menacing eyes. _Not again... _

She fought the urge to bite the arm of the tall guy whom had his palms rested on either side of her head. She would've even kneed the guy in his family jewels using a move Tomoka taught her known as the 'Ball Crusher'. However, her hopes died as soon as it had flashed, when she also realized that the guy had two other companions waiting behind him, hands in their pockets, a cigarette stuck out from their dark lips.

"A-Ano… I-I need to get home now. It-It's kind of late…" It _was_ late. It was nine and it was dark.

Sakuno mentally berated herself. She regretted that she stayed back at school to finish helping Akira-sensei collecting snails for the freshmen's science experiment. She could've just followed Taichi when he had offered to walk her home; but no, being the responsible sophomore she was, she insisted that she stayed for a while to help Akira-sensei search for snails. And she could've taken up the sensei's offer to drive her home. But being the sweet and polite selfless Sakuno she was, she declined the offer so as to not disturb the 58-year old teacher. That, and the fact that Akira-sensei drove with a license that had expired thirty years before she was even born.

And here she was, being cornered by a third year student whom reeked of stale beer and cigarettes, asking her out even though she had declined him politely three months ago. It was a wonder to her that the third year had been asking her out after every three months since the day she'd started high school. Was it tradition for him to pursue her every three months or was he a delusional stubborn nut? Taichi had advised her to take the latter as the only plausible reason.

"Yo, onna! Make up your mind! I'm waitin' ya know!" Clearly, the undergraduate was drunk.

His friends sniggered as their friend tried to yank her skirt up which she clutched with her hands. One of them spit out his cigarette and raked a hand through his messy brown hair as he said, "You really know how to pick 'em, eh? I say, she's freakin' hot man!"

The other friend coughed a little, a result from chain smoking, and smirked. "Oi, Shin! I'll bet ten bucks if she's wearing pink!" And the trio laughed, as if it was really funny.

It was definitely not funny and it was going too far. She couldn't let these rude guys get to her. It was time she taught them a lesson. Being so mad at the guy's dirty joke, she grabbed a hold of Shin's right arm, and sank her teeth into his flesh.

"What the- Oi! Lemme go!" He roared as Sakuno's canines dug into his awful-tasting flesh, and managed to retrieve his arm, before a tennis ball hit him squarely in the face.

The other two buddies were about to get to a red-faced Sakuno, when one of them joined Shin writhing on the floor clutching his stomach seconds after said guy's face was attacked.

"Ne, don't you guys have anything better to do? If I were you, I'd be studying for the finals desu."

The lad left unharmed gulped before he ran away, leaving his two companions yelling 'TRAITOR!' after his fleeing body. Sakuno sighed relieved as she tightened her coat around her.

"You okay, Sakuno-chan?" Brown eyes turned to her, full of concern.

Sakuno nodded and smiled to him, her eyes telling him she was tired and she wanted to go home already. Her savior turned his gaze towards the two still wincing senpais. He rested his racket on his shoulder and smiled sweetly, the sweetness of the smile contrasting the killing gaze in his dark brown orbs.

"You okay, senpai?" His voice was kind, soothing, if it wasn't ruined by the dangerous eyes staring at them.

Said third year students staggered to their feet and beat a hasty escape.

Sakuno smiled sweetly as Dan Taichi turned to her, his smile still in place. "Thank you, Taichi-kun."

Taichi replied with a wide grin and a thumb up. However, the glorious grin instantly fell as he heard his forgotten companion clear his throat.

"Forgetting someone?"

The deep timbre of his voice sent shivers down Taichi's spine as if to remind him the actual person whom saved Sakuno.

"O-Oh! Yeah, Ryoma-kun! Thanks for saving our Sakuno-chan desu! Right, Sakuno-chan?" The dark blue-headed sixteen-year old nudged the girl blushing next to him with his elbow, encouraging the brunette to thank the real savior.

Ryoma growled as he heard Taichi call him 'Ryoma-kun'. He hated it when Taichi used that '-kun' suffix. It just sounded weird, and wrong. Especially if it came from someone who the girls at school deemed to be his 'secret boyfriend' or whatever. Just as he considered fifty ways to torture Taichi for calling him 'Ryoma-kun' – AGAIN-, Sakuno's voice cleared all the thoughts from his mind.

"Of-Of course… Thank you, Ryoma-kun." She smiled at her savior, the beautiful shade of pink still coloring her cheeks making her smile ever the more pretty.

That very smile also sped up Ryoma's heartbeat rate.

He looked away, mentally cursing for not having his cap to shadow his eyes. "Betsuni."

Taichi cleared his throat as he sensed that familiar tension air lingering between the two. Enthusiastically, he grabbed Sakuno's hand with his right hand and Ryoma's hand in the other, dragging them towards Sakuno's house.

"C'mon! We don't want Ryuzaki-sensei to be mad, right?"

Ryoma pulled back his hand as he let Taichi skip happily towards the Ryuzaki residence, Sakuno's hand in the possession of the blabbering data-boy. After a couple of minutes hearing Taichi's plans for the summer festivals, he suddenly stopped and turned to Sakuno.

"Speaking of which, Sakuno-chan, what are you doing during the festivals? I'll be going to the Koenji Awaodori with my cousins. Do you wanna come too? Ryoma? How about you?"

Sakuno shook her head. "It's okay, Taichi-kun. I think I'll stay at home. Obaa-chan will be out of town that day, and I have to take care of the house."

Well, that was her plan anyway. Not Ryuzaki-sensei. She'd wanted Sakuno to come to the summer festival with her, but the younger Ryuzaki preferred to stay home instead. Sakuno wanted to follow, but she had a lot of work to be taken care of. Being the Vice President of the Home Economics Club, she was forever busy with paperwork. They didn't have a secretary, she didn't know why, and most of the work was given to her. And like always, she was too kind to refuse.

"Not going. I'll be picking up Yuya from the airport." Ryoma answered, his deep voice waking up Sakuno from her paperwork headache.

"Yuya? A-Ah... Ryoma-kun's sister right?" She turned to the Tennis Prince, who nodded in reply.

Taichi's brows drew together in a frown. "Okay, then. What about we go to Sumidagawa River together then? Watch fireworks together desu? Please desu?"

Sakuno smiled and laughter spilled out when Taichi clasped his hands together in a praying manner as he begged his two best friends to watch the fireworks together. How could she say no? "Okay, Taichi-kun. Ryoma-kun?"

Sighing, Ryoma replied with a nod.

Taichi punched the air as they arrived in front of the Ryuzaki residence. "Yes, yes, yes! Arigatou desu! G'night, Sakuno-chan desu!"

"Thank you again, Taichi-kun. Um... Ryoma-kun too." She blushed as she mentioned the second name.

She bowed before she disappeared into her house, leaving Taichi grinning at Ryoma.

"What?" Ryoma asked, irritation laced the words as they started to walk away from Sakuno's house.

Taichi shook his head and slung his arm around Ryoma's shoulder.

"You really do like her, don't you? It's okay, I won't tell anyone desu!"

Ryoma made nothing to deny it, because it was true. And he was fine that Taichi knew too, because he knew the boy wouldn't tell anyone, including Sakuno.

The tennis prodigy silently thanked god because being secretive was one of Taichi's good points.

**Gah! I feel really horrible for this chap. I don't know why, but I couldn't think of a better title for this fic. And the ending is horrible. Sigh.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Befriending My First Love**

* * *

><p><strong>#2<strong>

"Hey guys!" The blue-haired third-year greeted his two friends as he made it to their usual relaxing spot for lunch, a.k.a the rooftop.

As he plopped down onto his usual spot between Sakuno and Ryoma, the Tennis Club manager carefully put down a thermos, filled with cool orange juice. He turned eagerly towards Ryoma; the Tennis Captain apparently lying down with his tennis bag as a pillow and his amber eyes studying the sky, a hobby Taichi found very… boring.

"Have you eaten?" He asked, as Sakuno handed him a pair of chopsticks.

"Waiting for you." Was the usual monotonous tone.

"Ano… here, Ryoma-kun. Taichi-kun too."

The brunette girl among them handed the bento boxes she had willingly volunteered to bring for them almost everyday since they became friends two years ago. Ryoma would bring the chopsticks; and he would usually hand the utensils to Sakuno every morning before class began. And Taichi would always bring the drinks. Being the manager he was, he used to feed the other two with his weird concoction he'd claimed he'd developed during the summer breaks, especially when the Tennis Club had special training. But after a certain incident where Sakuno nearly passed out, Taichi swore to his self only to give the drinks to the more strong-willed tennis players. Also, after a murderous glare from Ryoma, he also excluded the ambidextrous athlete from his list.

As they ate with a usually silent Ryoma and occasional small talks between Taichi and Sakuno, the blue-haired tennis player looked at his two friends.

He looked at Sakuno, his first friend when he first stepped into the so-called legendary school, the Himura High School. She'd sacrificed her lunch to share it with him when he collapsed in their classroom from gastric.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

_Sakuno smiled to herself as she took out her nicely wrapped bento, her first bento in high school. Her smile faltered as she remembered Tomoka. If Tomoka was there, the loud-mouthed best friend of hers would be sharing her own bento with Sakuno's. Now that Tomoka moved to Osaka to attend another high school, no one was there to greet her with a bone-crushing bear hug and there was no one there to call her 'Sakunooo!'. _

_Tears formed in her eyes and she took a shaky breath to calm her nerves. She was alone now. She would learn to be independent and she would learn how to make friends in this new school. As she promised Tomoka. And obaa-chan. And Eiji-senpai and also Oishi-senpai. And Momo-chan. And... the regulars. She laughed by herself, ignoring the weird stares her classmates were giving her. She was lucky, to have been able to bond with the tennis regulars in junior high._

_"Oi! What's wrong with you?"_

_The few students remaining in the classroom murmured to one another as they gathered around a boy who fell from his chair, writhing on the floor. He clutched his stomach as beads of sweat formed on his temples. _

_"G-Gastric..." he said through clenched teeth, though he knew clenching his teeth and clutching his stomach would do nothing to ease the pain._

_The others panicked, but no one did anything. No one offered to bring him to the infirmary. _

_Sakuno left her bento and knelt next to the writhing boy. "A-Are you alright?"_

_Taichi mustered his strength to reply with the shake of his head. The braided girl turned to the others who started to surround the scene. _

_"Wh-what's wrong with him?" she asked, worry gleaming in her brown orbs._

_Someone decided to answer, "He said it was his gastric."_

_Anger washed over Sakuno's eyes as she realized nobody was helping the boy. "Why didn't any of you bring him to the nurse?"_

_Seeing the guilty faces staring back at her, she told the boy to hang on before she dashed out of the sliding doors to get to a male teacher._

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>She had someone to carry him to the infirmary and she had insisted he eat her lunch before his gastric could've worsened. He'd shamelessly cried and thanked her to no end for giving up her lunch for him.<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

_Taichi woke up and slowly sat up in the white bed. The spring breeze aired the room through the window that the nurse left open. A nurse typing something into the computer turned around and greeted him with a wide smile as she heard the boy clear his throat._

_"Ah, you're awake, young man."_

_Taichi rubbed his eyes. "H-How did I... get here?"_

_The nurse walked to him and as she filled some forms on the bedside desk, she explained that his classmate asked a teacher to bring him there. _

_As he took his time digesting the story, a braided girl with big brown eyes and large black-rimmed spectacles entered the infirmary and introduced herself as Ryuzaki Sakuno._

_"Ah, this is the classmate I told you about," the nurse turned to Sakuno and offered a chair next to the bed._

_"U-Um... I-I heard you got gastric..." the girl was blushing slightly as Taichi stared at her blankly._

_This girl, he had seen her before. Where had he seen her?_

_"... so I brought you this." She handed him a bento wrapped up in a pink cloth, reminding him of the cherry blossoms in full bloom._

_"Ah... Arigatou desu..."_

_The nurse left the two together as she returned to the computer._

_"I'm Dan Taichi desu." He said, a weak smile etched on his face._

_Sakuno smiled back. "You were Yamabuki's manager, right?"_

_Taichi nodded as he stuffed his mouth with a cucumber roll. Now that Sakuno mentioned it, he really missed his senpais. Especially Akutsu-senpai. The so-called scary senpai. He couldn't understand why people hated the ghost-like tennis player. _

_"I missed them desu..." he unconsciously whispered as he swallowed the food._

_He noticed Sakuno nodding slowly, as if she understood his feelings. He pointed to the bento,_

_"Thanks for the bento. I saw you holding it this morning."_

_The nurse who overheard the boy decided to speak up. "Ryuzaki-san gave her lunch to you. You fainted before you got here."_

_Taichi nearly choked as he looked at Sakuno's smiling face. She was so beautiful, so kind, so angelic, that it pinched his sensitive heart. His vision started to get blurry and he wiped off the tears falling so freely down his cheeks._

_"A-Arigatou desu." He said, his voice cracking._

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>He had repaid her by being her biology project partner when everyone else had chosen to do their projects themselves because they were 'too good' for teamwork. Again, he had helped her with her tennis although he wasn't that good. He'd coached her tennis for the first two months when she'd quitted the tennis club and decided to take up home economics instead.<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

_Taichi raised his brows as Sakuno came to their usual place to practice without her tennis gear. She smiled at him and handed him a grape Ponta._

_"What happened desu?" He asked as she motioned toward a nearby bench._

_"I quit tennis." She said, her voice a whisper._

_Taichi jumped off the bench and squeezed Sakuno's face between his hands. "WHY? I thought you liked tennis desu!"_

_She laughed sheepishly. "I'm no good in tennis, Taichi-kun."_

_Taichi rested his hands on his hips and a frown drew his brows together. "Ryuzaki-chan, you can always try!"_

_Sakuno shook her head and stared at the can of Ponta in her hands. "It's impossible. Sometimes certain things are not meant to be, even if we tried our best."_

_Taichi's flailing arms abruptly stopped. With disappointment clearly etched onto his face, he plopped next to Sakuno, and took a long swig of the cool soda she had offered him._

_"Good luck, ne." He said as he turned to throw the empty can into a nearby bin._

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>Although he'd known how sad she was because she knew she was no good in tennis, she'd laughed it off and offered to cook lunch for him. She had taken her time to call him every morning to remind him to take breakfast. Along those days, they'd become friends.<p>

He turned his attention to Ryoma, his second friend who entered the same high school three days before spring ended. The Tennis Prince had made known to everyone as a stoic, emotionless, cold guy throughout his first few weeks in school. And Taichi had been no exception. He'd avoided Ryoma as soon as the Tennis Prince introduced himself to the class and plopped to a seat next to him, near the window looking out onto the school gates.

However, a certain incident changed his mind about the once Echizen-kun who had beaten Akutstu-senpai during his junior years in Yamabuki. The so-called ice-prince had saved him. Not directly, but he knew the emotionless-bastard-who-stole-all-the-girls, well that was what every guy in school called him, had actually saved him from the third year tennis regulars who bullied the brown-eyed freshman.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

_"Oi, Dan! Come here a minute!" _

_Fifteen-year old Dan Taichi immediately put down his racket onto a nearby bench and scrambled to the group of third year Tennis Regulars by the door of the changing room._

_"C-Coming desu!" The tennis balls he had collected from the four tennis courts were left to rest in the basket in the middle of court 1._

_The blue headband he wore on his forehead drooped over one of his eyes as he stepped into the changing room and stood before his seniors. _

_"What's this?" One of the seniors asked, holding up a dark-green notebook in his hands._

_"Ah! That's my data book! It contains the data of each and every one of the members of the Tennis Club!" He finished enthusiastically by clasping his hands together in delight._

_A senior with a black Mohawk narrowed his eyes as he heard about the data Taichi was so eagerly talking about._

_"What? Data?"_

_Taichi nodded furiously. "Yup! Brilliant isn't it?"_

_The other third year Regulars present looked at each other, their faces obviously uneasy. The Vice Captain snatched the note book from the previous holder and flipped through the pages, the corners of his mouth turning downwards, a sign that he was not at all pleased._

_"Why are you collecting data?" His deep husky voice sent chills through the freshman's spine._

_"W-Well, I need to study the data so that it can be of use in the upcoming matches..." His voice trailed off as he noticed the dangerous glares from the four seniors. _

_The Vice Captain threw away the notebook, ignoring Taichi's surprised gasp. "So, you think you can beat us and sneak your way into the regular spot with that friggin' book of yours, huh?"_

_"Y-Yes..." He gulped, forcing the lump to go through his throat._

_"You piece of shit, you think you can beat us with this thing?" The furious third year grabbed the front of Taichi's red-collared shirt and slammed the boy against the wall._

_"A-Ano..." He swallowed again, unsure of what to say._

"_Forget your book. Why don't you beat us with what you've got? Since you're so sure you can even get a spot in the team."_

_Taichi panicked. He wasn't that good. Sure, he knew how to play tennis, hell, he could even do a twist serve. But having a match spontaneously without any preparation, also without his trustworthy book, he couldn't really beat them all. Maybe one or two, he'd seen the brunet senpai and the red-headed senpai play before, but still, judging from the way he was panicking, he could never be too sure._

_As the Vice Captain released Taichi only to turn around to get his racket and head to the door, the brown-eyed freshman was again surprised when a senior pushed him towards the court for a duel._

"_C'mon, beat us all. If you lose, you'll see why you would never even have the chance to play as a regular." _

_Taichi swallowed his dry throat, and winced as if he'd just swallowed a grade 4.0 sandpaper crumpled into a ball. Crossing his fingers, he followed the seniors into the second court, where it was directly facing the soccer turf, a place where the students loved to hang out. He groaned. He was going to be in deep, deep humiliation. He'd thought he would rather die._

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>He remembered the sick feeling in his gut as he held the racket to play against the first third-year regular. He'd prayed silently as he tossed the ball into the air to serve. He'd recalled in crystal clear his first experience to go up against a real tennis player, the gut-wrenching feeling as the ball flew past him in a fraction of a second. But then, when Ryoma came with his hands casually shoved into his black pants looking as if he'd just won the Tennis Teen Pro title – which he was currently holding anyway - , it seemed as if an angel had came to save him.<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

"_What's wrong, Dan Taichi? Giving up already?" His opponent asked smugly from the other side of the net, his racket patting one broad shoulder._

_Taichi was on his knees, gasping for air. This was no good, he'd thought. He was doomed to lose and be humiliated. It was too late to back away, the students were watching him play. _

"_No." He suddenly said, his voice serious._

"_What, shrimp? I can't hear you!" The brunet on the other side of the net cupped a hand to his ear._

_Taichi took a deep shaky breath and stood up, his legs wobbly from playing a long match against the previous senpai, and now the opponent smirking smugly from across the net. He wasn't going to lose just like that. He'd proved to the others in the match with the previous senpai, that he was worth playing against as he managed to steal two games before succumbing to loss._

"_I AM NOT QUITTING DESU! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU SENPAI AND I'LL SIGN UP TO BE A REGULAR!" He'd cried out as he poised in a readied stance to continue the match._

_The startled opponent gritted his teeth before he delivered his serve. "Hn. Delusional bastard."_

_Taichi focused on the neon-colored ball as it came flying towards him. He tightened his grip on his racket and prepared to return, when his body didn't respond. _

"_What?" Disbelief shadowed his eyes as the ball neared him, heading straight towards his stomach._

_Collective gasps were heard from the crowd as the ball hit Taichi squarely onto his stomach. He collapsed on all fours and coughed badly. Tears stung his eyes, and the smug laughter from the other seniors sitting by the bench made the tears all the more stinging._

_He thought it was over. _

_Two whole years refining his skills with Sengoku-senpai._

_Two whole years of refining his twist serve._

_And it all came down the drain._

_It was then when he'd heard three words, spoken by a voice; deep, velvety voice. _

_Not too rough. Not too forgiving. Just... cold._

"_That was low." _

_The laughter stopped as a raven-haired first-year clad in his summer uniform entered the court. He bent down next to the panting Taichi and picked up the tennis ball that hit the latter on the abdomen. As his amber eyes studied the tennis ball, his lips twisted up into a smirk. That mere smirk was nothing but intimidating as he pinned the third-year with his san paku gan._

_Recovering from his earlier shock by seeing the so-called teen legend standing in the courts, Taichi's opponent chose to fight back the cold gaze of Echizen Ryoma._

_"What? Are you gonna do somethin' about that?"_

_Ryoma shrugged a shoulder and turned to Taichi who was currently staring at him with his mouth wide open. The Tennis Prince kind of respected the boy for having the guts to teach the senpais a lesson, but he was too naive to go up against the third years. By looking at the way Taichi played, he knew that the brown-eyed boy with that sloppy headband on his forehead had the skill. Unfortunately, those skills weren't enough to beat the four smug-looking bastards who were looking at them as though they were nothing more than a bug. _

_The courts were deadly silent as Ryoma thought about the last question directed by that baboon-looking senpai across the net. He walked a few steps to where Taichi's dark-blue racket lied, and picked it up. _

_"Echizen-kun! You shouldn't be here desu! They're-"_

_"Ne."_

_Ignoring Taichi's protest, Ryoma rested the racket against his shoulder. A smirk was displayed on his lips as his amber eyes challengingly dared the opponent across the net to return his gaze._

_"I haven't played for a while. Why don't you teach me your tennis, senpai?" The last sentence didn't even qualified as a request. Instead, his deep voice indicated that it was a demand._

_"G-Good luck, Ryoma-kun..." He'd heard Sakuno wish him as she quickly went into the courts to take Taichi to the nurse. _

_Before the game began, Ryoma's smirk turned into a dangerous grin. One that everyone else knew predicted trouble._

_"Luck is always on my side."_

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>Taichi grinned as he finished the last bit of his bento. As he put down the empty container, he adjusted the headband on his forehead.<p>

"So, you two," he started after a few seconds of eating in silence.

Ryoma turned to the data-boy, his eyes showing boredom as usual. Sakuno nodded to encourage the boy to continue.

"I've been thinking desu..." he said, his voice a worried voice tone as he let his eyes focus on a crack on the mortar-floored rooftop.

Sakuno put down the thermos cup she'd been holding to give her fullest attention to what Taichi wanted to say. He inhaled deeply and his hands balled to fists against his lap.

"... what would happen after this? I mean, we're seniors, right? I'd never thought that I would find friends here, especially you two as my best friends... and now that it had come to this... After the finals we'd never see each other again and I just... just..."

He had tried to hold back the tears clawing the back of his eyes. But just thinking about being separated from his two best friends who he'd really learned to love and care about took all the will out of him.

A pair of small hands covered his fisted ones. The hands gently uncurled his fingers and brought them up in front of his face. Sakuno smiled as she held the boy's hands in hers.

"Taichi-kun, who ever said that we won't be seeing each other again? We'll still keep in contact, like always. That's what friends do. Ne, Ryoma-kun?"

She had turned to the quietest of the three, earning a nod. Taichi's eyes widened as he saw Ryoma's response.

"You mean it, Ryoma? I mean, I haven't been a good friend desu..."

Sakuno's brows drew together as she formed a frown. "Taichi-kun! You have been the most helpful friend we have ever met! How could you say things like that? Mou..." her cheeks were pink from embarrassment at being emotional.

Before Taichi could voice out a response, Ryoma stood up and shoved a hand the pocket of his dark pants.

"You're kinda helpful. We wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't there for the club. And us." He'd said the last part so very softly, that it made Sakuno's heart pinch a little bit.

"And besides," the raven-haired walking Tennis Idol had a smirk on his face as he turned to Taichi.

"You're kinda good, but still mada mada dane, Taichi."

Sakuno smiled warmly as Taichi started to rub his eyes furiously to stop the streaming tears.

"Hai! I'm still mada mada Ryoma-kun!" He'd grinned widely as he followed Ryoma, a tightly-wrapped empty container stuffed into his bag.

Ryoma's brow twitched as he heard that damn endearment in his name again.

"Drop it." The Tennis Captain gritted through his teeth.

Ignoring the deathly glares from his best guy, Taichi took Sakuno's hand in his and slung his arm around Ryoma's broad shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, here's the second chap. Is this too long? I think it is.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Befriending My First Love**

**(By: ShortFingerNails)**

* * *

><p><strong>#3<strong>

"No, No! Ryoma-kun, you got it wrong again. Mou…" Sakuno frowned as she took the brush from Ryoma's left hand before he damaged the paper with more of his horrible kanji calligraphy.

Annoyed at being wrong again, Ryoma took off the large spectacles his classmate was wearing. He knew she didn't need those huge glasses, she just wore them to rid off 'evil' as she and Taichi had been telling him for the last three weeks he had attended the high school as a first-year. The tennis player suspected another reason; which is to get rid of those boisterous sophomores who'd been hitting on her. Whichever the reason was, he knew she could see clearly with those gorgeous brown eyes of hers, and he didn't see a damn thing wrong with his calligraphy. They'd been on it for two whole hours, and after sixteen papers, all she had to say was 'finesse, finesse, Ryoma-kun.' Maybe if she took a good look at it, and maybe if she took off those glasses, she would have given him a pass.

"Now what did I do wrong again this time?" He said, exasperation evident in his voice as he took the paper from Sakuno's hands and put it right in front of her face.

Sakuno sighed and laid another paper on the table. They were at Ryoma's house, sitting on the porch overseeing the tennis court behind the temple. The Tennis Prince was sometimes too stubborn to listen to people, and she was having a hard time with him taking off her glasses whenever she was with him. She took a calming breath to soothe her nerves and reminded herself that she was doing Ryoma a favor. His calligraphy kanji writing was so horrible and unreadable that the teacher had asked somebody to help him before he looses marks in the calligraphy test, a special test undergone by each and every one of the Himura High School students at the end of their freshmen year.

And judging by the deathly glares the boys had given him and the love-patched eyes the girls had latched onto him, Taichi – being the matchmaker he was - pushed Sakuno into the picture.

"Wh-When one dips the brush into the ink,"

She said, one hand dipping the brush in the ink by the side, while the other was trying to retrieve her glasses in Ryoma's hand.

"…_he," _

she emphasized the 'he' so as to tell Ryoma that HE was the one whom she was referring to, and at the same time trying again to retrieve her beloved spectacles when he pulled the gadget out of her reach.

"…should not use brute strength." She finished with a frown and a pout.

Her cheeks were burning because it seemed that while he was putting a scowl on his face, he was actually enjoying teasing her and her glasses. Ignoring the stubborn nut in front of her, Sakuno began to start her calligraphy with a stroke so light, refined by years of training from Ryuzaki-sensei and Tachibana Ann when she was still in Seigaku. Despite being angry and annoyed at Ryoma, she managed to produce the word 'Love' on one side of the paper with the light strokes of the horsetail brush. She continued by saying,

"A light stroke can only be achieved by the careful flex of your wrist, Ryoma-kun. Imagine, doing a… smash. Yes, a smash, Ryoma-kun." She said, earning a raised brow from the fifteen-year old sitting on the opposite of the table.

"What, you're using tennis to illustrate?"

Sakuno nodded, and the weirdness of her analogy caused Ryoma to loosen his grip on her spectacles. As he tried to imagine beating Momoshiro into a pulp with his Drive A, the brunette managed to take back her glasses and put it back on. Ryoma, however, absent-mindedly watched as she gladly placed the large spectacles back on its place.

"Yes, Ryoma-kun. And try comparing the movement of your wrist when you are doing a… drop shot? Yes, a drop shot." She continued as she turned the paper around for Ryoma to do his part of the callipgraphy.

"Hn. I get it." He said at last and took the brush from Sakuno.

Seeing Ryoma's focused eyes as he completed the task at hand was one of the things she liked when being with him. They weren't a couple, they were friends. But it didn't mean she couldn't like her friend, right? A smile reached her lips as she saw the progress he was making.

With a smug grin on his face, Ryoma held up the paper for Sakuno to see. "Look."

The smile on her face quickly dropped as she saw the word written next to her own calligraphy. It was simple, yet it made her blush like crazy.

"U-Um… th-that's great, Ryoma-kun. Look, you can already do it properly… ne?" She laughed shyly as Ryoma nodded, proud that he can at last be good at something new.

"Thanks." He said, making her blush even more.

"U-Um, Ryoma-kun… you can… throw it away now."

Amber eyes blinked, clueless at what was going on with Sakuno acting strangely again.

"No, I'm keeping it." He said again, and sprawled the art worth two and half hours of his Sunday morning on top of the little table.

Sakuno mentally cried at Ryoma's bluntness. Did he not notice what the words on the paper said? Or was he just really lacking in the shy and embarrassed department? Was it both?

"O-Okay, then. I'll be going now, Ryoma-kun. Um, say hi to your parents for me, ne?" She bowed politely and started to make the long walk to the front door when Ryoma stopped her.

"Wait, you're walking alone?"

He didn't like the idea of Sakuno walking home by her self, even in broad daylight. She was too much of a walking and talking danger hazard. Even if it was most probably that she would not get lost on her way home, the rest of the probability still screamed 'LOST AGAIN!'.

"No, Taichi-kun will be here. In a couple of minutes… I think…" she ended her words with a nervous laugh.

Taichi was supposed to be there an hour ago, actually. And now Sakuno doubted that the blue-haired boy remembered to walk her home, as he promised Ryuzaki-sensei. She didn't get lost as much as she had been since the past years, but seeing that she had seldom gone to Ryoma's house, she was sure she was doomed to get lost again.

Just as Ryoma was thinking about grabbing his cap and accompany Sakuno, the doorbell rang.

"Ryuzaki-chan, sorry desu! I'm here desu!"

Sakuno sighed relieved as she heard Taichi and his cute habit of adding a –desu- after most his sentences. She bowed again to Ryoma and made her way to the gates.

"Coming, Taichi-kun!" She called after the grinning boy.

"Bye, Ryoma-kun!" Taichi called out as they started to walk away from the Echizen residence.

"Damn it." Ryoma cursed under his breath at that endearment.

He controlled him self by not slamming the door shut and headed back to the porch to retrieve the paper which he had spent such a ridiculously long time on it. As he bent down to roll the paper, he noticed the words.

And for the first time since he came back to Japan, he actually blushed.

It was just a tint of pink on the apples of his cheeks, but it was enough to be called a blush.

Then he'd decided to just throw away the paper before his perverted oyaji could use it to tease him endlessly.

Too bad he was too late when Nanjiroh popped behind him.

"What's this, young man? 'Love' and 'You' in kanji?"

Rinko sighed in defeat as she heard the two men in the house running around the tennis court, creating a ruckus.

"OHOHO! Who's this lucky girl?"

"Oyaji!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ahaha… I know… this is too short, right? Sorry for the short chapter. Originally, I wanted to write a sad chapter, ya know, the part when Sakuno cries on Ryoma's shoulder and Taichi offering to beat the guy's ass, and then Ryoma would say his infamous 'Mada mada dane'. But well, I just didn't feel like it. Maybe some other time. **

**Review purrrleaaase! (*puppy eyes*)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Befriending My First Love**

**(By: ShortFingerNails)**

* * *

><p><strong>#4<strong>

"Nii-chan! Wakey, wakey!"

Seventeen-year old Ryoma groaned as a fifteen-year old girl stormed into his room and pulled the curtains. He used a pillow to block the blinding sunlight from his eyes and another pillow was tossed carelessly towards the brown-haired girl jumping on the edge of his bed.

"C'mon, nii-chan! It's my first summer in high school!" She dodged the pillow and pulled away his covers.

"Five minutes," Ryoma mumbled as he rolled onto his stomach.

Echizen Yuya pouted and decided to pull the pillow he was drowning his face into.

"Wake up! It's Japanese breakfast!"

Ryoma growled as he finally sat up in his bed with a laughing Yuya exiting the room.

"Close the door, damn it!" He slammed his door shut and started towards his bathroom.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for the tips, Ryuzaki-senpai! We'll be off now!" The first-year club members gave the single-braided Ryuzaki a quick hug before they dashed out of the kitchen.<p>

Some of the sophomores gave polite bows as they left the large headquarters of the Home Economics Club before they fired away towards the tennis courts, all the while squealing out the Tennis Captain's name. Sakuno hummed a nursery rhyme as she waited in the kitchen for her cake to rise. Anyone within a five-mile radius could see that the girls were crazy for the Himura Tennis Regulars not just because of their extraordinary talents, but also because of the players themselves. Especially Echizen Ryoma. Or Ryoma-sama as the fan girls called him. And seeing the annoyed look on his face whenever he runs into a bunch of rabid fan girls was just pure entertainment. Both to her and Taichi.

The smell of the vanilla butter cake rising in the oven wafted through the empty kitchen. It was always like this, ever since she took part in the club. She would stay back in the kitchen to check on anything missing or anything out of the place, with the president of the club helping her. When the third-year president graduated, no one stayed back with her. But she was okay with that. The kitchen had been her sanctuary after a busy day at school. It was a place where she could chill herself from the guys hitting on her.

She put on the brown mittens and carefully took out the cake tin from the hot oven. She smiled dreamily as she inhaled the delicious smell of vanilla and butter.

"Heaven," she said to herself and turned around to place the cake onto the cooling rack on the icing counter behind her.

Then she gulped.

It was all she could do to keep herself from shrieking like a banshee as a pair of amber orbs stared back at her. She nearly dropped the piping hot cake tin as the pair of eyes glinted with such glee.

"Oh, sorry! I'm Echizen Yuya! Nice to meet you, senpai!"

The cheery voice startled Sakuno for a moment. As she felt the mittens getting warmer, she broke out of her trance and clumsily put down the cake tin onto the counter. Struggling out of the mittens, she mentally cursed herself for being such a klutz.

"Nice to meet you too, um…"

The third-year brunette thought of a name to call the first-year girl in front of her. Yuya giggled and took Sakuno's hands in hers.

"Just call me Yuya!"

Startled again from the friendliness of the girl, Sakuno managed to nod. Yuya noticed the cake.

"Wow, you made a cake. It smells good, nee-chan!" she inhaled the scent given off by the still warm cake.

"U-Um, it's a vanilla cake. I'm about to put icing on it. But it needs to cool down, so…"

Sakuno looked at the cake now sitting innocently on the cooling rack to avoid any eye contact with Yuya.

She'd heard about Yuya from Taichi, but never in a million years would she have thought about the real Yuya. The girl was far from looking like Ryoma, except for the amber eyes. She was more like a miniature Rinko, with shoulder length brown hair that was left down. Blue flower hair clips kept her bangs out of her face as she bent down again to take another whiff of the cake.

"Ne, Ryuzaki nee-chan," the female Echizen smiled at Sakuno.

"Yes?"

"Can I join this club?"

* * *

><p>Ryoma rested his red racket onto one shoulder and adjusted his cap as he observed the other members practice on court 1. He already sent some of the other regulars to check up on the other three courts.<p>

"Ne, Ryoma." Taichi stood next to him holding his notebook.

"Hn." The Tennis Captain nodded and took a swig of his water.

"Well, the Kantou Tournament is coming."

"Anything new?"

Taichi grinned and flipped through the pages. "Lots of them, desu!"

The girls outside the courts squealed as Taichi conversed with Ryoma, his goofy smiles lighting up the atmosphere in the court, a clear contrast to Ryoma's bored - if not scowling - face.

"Gosh, they look SOOO good together!"

"Yeah, but I think Ryoma-sama's better off with himself!"

"God, those arms and legs! He's gorgeous!"

"RYOMA-SAMAAA!"

Said name winced as he heard those squeals. Taichi laughed and put an arm around his shoulder, causing more squealing from the fans.

"Dan-kun, you're so cute!"

Taichi winked playfully at the girls and laughed again as Ryoma grumbled something along the lines of 'you sound gay' and 'annoying screams' and also Taichi's favorite; 'I'm not a faggot'

"Maa, maa, Ryoma! Have some fun while you're at it desu!"

Ryoma shrugged off Taichi's hand. "It's easy for you to say that. You're not pressurized by the press."

Taichi grinned. "Well, I have my own press desu!" And he pointed towards a bunch of girls snapping pictures and some of them holding up all the ridiculous gadgets to get a glimpse of what the two friends were talking about.

Ignoring the screams from the sidelines, Ryoma changed to another racket and motioned towards an empty court.

"Come on, Taichi. Work on your backhand this time."

Always the energetic bunny he was, Taichi replied with a cheery 'Okay desu!' and followed Ryoma.

* * *

><p>Yuya smiled as she observed the third-year icing the cake beautifully. Sakuno nee-chan, as she learned from her new classmates, was as beautiful as she imagined.<p>

The moment she stepped into the high school, all she could think of that time was to check out all the clubs there. And she'd tried out volley ball, but she was as bad as Ryoma in that sport. Then she tried the science club, but she was not as clever as Ryoma to name the chemicals in the lab. The last club she tried was the shogi club, but she grew up in America for most of her life and it just wasn't in her blood. Plus, she was kicked out of the club because she'd offended the high and mighty brown-eyed president who claimed he was better than her brother in the muscles department; by saying Ryoma was a shrimp compared to him.

Then Ryoma had talked to her about the tennis club, but he didn't force her to try out. And the moment she decided to watch Ryoma play against a sophomore, she quickly gave up the idea of joining the Tennis Club. No way was she going to enter a club where most of the members finished their time squealing after the boys' side. No way. Besides, she wasn't so passionate about tennis as Nanjiroh and Ryoma were.

Seeing her enthusiasm die out, Ryoma's best friend, Dan Taichi-kun had recommended her to join the Home Economics Club, because their other best friend was the president of the club. She'd asked her friends who'd joined the club and they did a good job in promoting the kind, sweet, beautiful president of the club. While all of the members of the HE Club adored this Ryuzaki-senpai, some other girls hated the brunette. They said that she wasn't popular but she was seen talking to Ryoma and Taichi most of the time.

True, Ryuzaki Sakuno wasn't all too popular, even though she became the president of the HE Club. It was because the club itself wasn't that popular. And Ryoma nii-chan talking to a girl? It was news to Yuya. She had never seen her brother talk more than three words to a girl. Even the prettiest girls had been talked to by the same way he'd treated any other girls.

"Nee-chan," she called out.

Sakuno looked up from the fully coated cake, a satisfied smile on her face. "Yes?"

"you're nii-chan's friend, right?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"

Yuya frowned. "No, it's just that nii-chan never had a female friend. He never talks a lot when he's with a girl. Well, except me and okaa-san. Nanako nee-san too."

Sakuno washed her hands and laughed shyly. "Well, Ryoma-kun does talk a bit. Just not much."

This piqued Yuya's interest. She sat herself on the edge of the counter top. "How did you get to know him?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Flashback<strong>_

"_Ne, thank you, for saving me in the train just now…" she blushed, embarrassed at the fact that the boy turned out to be the one to buy the Ponta she was holding, instead of her._

_He turned to her, the blankest face she'd ever seen plastered on his face. "Hm? Where were you sitting at?"_

_Sakuno didn't know what to do; whether she should be mad at him for not noticing her, or should she laugh out because it seemed that he was such a clueless boy. She settled on pouting. _

_How could he? Was she really unnoticeable?_

_**End flashback**_

* * *

><p>They laughed as Sakuno finished telling the first-year about the time when Ryoma didn't recognize her.<p>

"Really? How can nii-chan forget about your name?"

Sakuno nodded as she wiped the counter top clean.

"Well, that's Ryoma-kun for you."

Yuya helped Sakuno shut the windows and pluck off the plugs before they walked out of the kitchen.

"Ne, who's that cake for?" She asked, and then realizing her mistake, she closed her mouth with a hand.

Sakuno looked at the box with the cake inside. Usually she'd eat the cake with Taichi at his house, and sometimes Taichi would drag Ryoma too.

"Usually we'd eat this at Taichi-kun's house."

Yuya blinked. "We?"

"Taichi-kun and your nii-chan. Well, Ryoma-kun doesn't always come… But you can join us if you want to."

The younger Echizen clasped her hands in delight and skipped towards the tennis court. "Of course! I'll ask nii-chan to come along too!" She turned around suddenly and gave Sakuno a bone-crushing hug before she left the third-year brunette on the verge of passing out.

Sakuno giggled as she watched Yuya skip her way towards the lockers, hurriedly replacing her pin soles with her black shoes. The first-year really made a good impression on her. She liked the girl's cheerfulness, and that reminded her of Tomoka.

Echizen Yuya…

She liked that name.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for posting another short chappie. I just hope you like it. I kinda feel that this chap isn't one of my favorite. Oh well, did my best didn't I? **


	5. Chapter 5

**Befriending My First Love**

**(By: ShortFingerNails)**

* * *

><p><strong>#5<strong>

"Really? Dan Taichi's going against Abarai-senpai? And the other third years also? ALONE?"

Sakuno panicked as she heard that the match was to be held on the second court.

"Taichi-kun…" she whispered anxiously as she looked down onto the half-frosted strawberry shortcake she was making.

Without taking off the strawberry-printed apron, Sakuno washed her hands and dashed out of the kitchen and hurried down the hallway, her pin soles squeaking loudly against the polished floor.

"Taichi-kun, you're going to be humiliated!" She scolded him, her breath ragged as she rounded a corner.

"How did he- Oomph!" She collided against a hard chest before she landed on her rear.

"Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki."

Sakuno blinked as she heard those words. She adjusted her huge black-rimmed eye glasses and sighed relieved.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" She quickly stood up from her sitting position, ignoring the nagging pain on her backside.

The bored-looking tennis prince had been walking around school searching for the tennis courts when he'd bumped into Ryuzaki Sakuno in a strawberry-printed apron with the words 'Anata wa Daaaaisuki!' printed on the chest region. She was looking at him from her seated position, the black-rimmed spectacles she wore resting on against the straight bridge of her cute nose, her once ridiculously long braids now cut to shoulder length and ran down her back in a single braid had some strands sticking out of place…

She was a fashion nightmare.

And to him, she was beautiful.

He wanted to offer a hand, instead he'd said that annoying phrase of his, probably making her fragile feelings hurt again. Like he always did to other people.

But then she'd looked at him with a sense of relief and what startled him the most was when she quickly stood up, grabbed his hand in hers and dragged him towards a place she claimed to be the tennis courts. And along the way, she'd told him to save her friend.

Which made him wonder, who was this 'friend' she was talking him into saving. He was no hero, god damn it. Especially when this Ryuzaki had so eagerly wanted him to save this so-called guy friend of hers. Now, he was just being an immature bastard.

Somewhere near the staff room, she abruptly stopped and nearly caused Ryoma to collide against her back. He gulped. That was dangerous for a lot of reasons.

She blinked for a few seconds and looked around the deserted part of the hallway.

"Eh?"

Ryoma's brow twitched. He knew it. They were somehow lost again. Well, he couldn't blame Ryuzaki. The school was huge anyway.

"What?" He asked, although he well knew that they were far away from the tennis courts.

Sakuno turned to him and laughed shyly. "A-Ano… I forgot where it is."

He sighed. Really, how ditzy can this girl be? He glanced at his hand still being held in hers and decided to keep silent. He didn't want to fret Sakuno when she was already dealing with one of her panic attacks. She spotted a directory of the school grounds on the staff's notice board and dragged Ryoma to it. A dainty finger traced the map as her eyes scanned the directory.

"Ah, Ryoma-kun! Here it is!" She said before dragging said name again towards another hallway. And this time she was right when they eventually came across a tennis court labeled 'court 3'.

"Here he is!" Sakuno smiled relieved as she saw the all-too-familiar figure successfully returning the shots delivered by the third-year player he was going against.

Her smile faltered as she noticed the frown forming on Ryoma's forehead. "R-Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma sighed as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black pants. "That idiot. He's caught in a trap."

Sakuno blinked. Then she tugged at his short-sleeved white shirt, a worried look in her big brown eyes.

"Th-Then do something, Ryoma-kun. Taichi-kun might lose."

Oh, it was the Dan-desu guy in the seat between Sakuno and him in class. Tch. Why did he have to subject himself to these kinds of problems. He glanced at Sakuno as she tightened her grip on his sleeve when Taichi was hit on the stomach. Really, these two sure know how to be in trouble.

"Guess I have no choice, ne?" He removed Sakuno's hand and walked casually towards the court.

Whispers were heard as he made his way into the tennis court. Taichi was on all fours, panting heavily. This Dan-desu guy better be thankful. While he wasn't all that cruel, he wasn't the kind sort of guy. It was just that it irked him to see someone getting bullied. One thing he learned from his dad; was that stronger guys should back-up the weaker ones. Not bully them. His baka oyaji was sometimes useful.

"That was low."

He said, amber eyes pinning his prey from across the court.

Ryoma knew he was so going to enjoy teaching these guys a lesson.

Besides, his joints were getting stiff from all the studying.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh, this is painfully short! I just noticed that!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Befriending My First Love**

**(By: ShortFingerNails)**

* * *

><p><strong>#6<strong>

"Please, don't leave..." Her eyes were glassy as she gazed into his amber orbs.

"I've never found someone like you, I love you..." She said again.

Ryoma just stood there, with a tennis bag slung on his shoulder and the clueless face pasted on his handsome features. A few seconds passed by as they stood looking at each other, the free strands of her hair dancing about her face as the wind breezed past the space between them. Then the corner of his lips turned down a fraction, a disgusted face etched on his face as he said the words,

"That's just weird."

Sakuno clasped her hands together. "Right, Ryoma-kun! He really said that!"

The dark-haired third-year adjusted the strap of his bag as he stopped by the traffic light with Sakuno walking next to him. She took out her cell phone and showed him a picture of two guys holding hands.

"Hora, look. I know I shouldn't have done this, but Taichi-kun was there and he said it was 'great data'. Don't you think so, Ryoma-kun?" She turned to him, her eyes gleaming of innocence as she showed him the picture.

Ryoma kept silent. It was all he could do to stop himself from calling her an innocent, naive baka. Who took pictures of homosexual couples confessing to each other? Taichi, that is. And with some influence and some brainwashing, Sakuno too. They kept walking with an unusually chatty Sakuno, talking about how sweet the boy was for confessing his 'newfound love' to his friend. He felt like puking.

"Isn't it sweet, Ryoma-kun?" She turned to him, her smile so radiant and refreshing it almost tempted him to say 'yes'.

Well, almost. "No, that's what you call disgusting."

Sakuno frowned. "Mou, Ryoma-kun. How could you say that? They were in _love _and you say that it's disgusting..."

Ryoma knew it was disgusting. He was never a fan of shonen ai. It gave him the creeps. For him, romantic and intimate feelings are only right between two people that are of different genders. If not, well, it's not called intimate. It's called wrong. He didn't particularly care if people say that he was really unforgiving, he was actually fine with that. It helped get the rumors of him dating Taichi off the bulletin boards. Oh, how he would love to beat the hell out of the one responsible for the rumors.

"Would you like it if Osakada comes here one day and claim you hers?" _He_ didn't want that.

However, that got Sakuno thinking. After a few seconds, she finally nodded slowly.

"Well, if I think about it again... Y-You're kind of... right. No, of course I wouldn't like it, Ryoma-kun..."

A smirk played on his lips as he finally proved his point. "Told you."

Sakuno shook her head and quickly deleted the offending picture from her cell phone.

"Ne, Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn?"

"A-Ano... Are you... coming...to-tonight?" She asked as they stopped in front of her house.

Ryoma glanced at the toes of his shoes and then looked up into her big brown eyes. She was hoping he would say yes, and he knew that he would say just that. He always said yes, when it came to that particular date. But somehow, that night would be different. And he didn't know if he should reciprocate to his sister's plans for that night, claiming it to be the best night he would ever experience. Ryoma doubted that.

However, he felt himself nod.

* * *

><p>Yuya inhaled the air around them as they made it to the bridge to watch the fireworks. Beautifully dressed in her yellow kimono with big pink Sakura flowers prints on it, a pink obi tied around her waist, Yuya turned around and smiled widely at her companions. A grumpy Ryoma dressed casually in a light blue polo shirt and beige khakis stood next to Taichi, and Sakuno stood right next to the youngest of the four, dressed in a pink kimono printed with red Sakura petals and a white obi tied around her waist. The girls had their hair tied into a bun and secured with red jade sticks. Sakuno looked like any other girls her age, but Rinko had been squealing in pure delight when she came to Ryoma's house with Taichi to pick up the Echizen siblings.<p>

She'd laughed as Ryoma came downstairs, his hair still damp from the shower and a scowl on his face. As for Taichi, the third-year data boy was frozen in place as Yuya came breezing downstairs in her kimono. Sakuno had a feeling that the blue-haired boy was smitten with Ryoma's sister, and she suspected that Ryoma had no idea whatsoever.

"Nee-chan, let's go have some takoyaki!" the amber-eyed girl grabbed Sakuno's hand and dragged her to the nearest Takoyaki stand she could find.

"Yu-Yuya-chan! What about Ryoma-kun and Taichi-kun?"

Yuya stopped and turned around. "Um… I think nii-chan can handle being alone. Ne, nii-chan?"

Ryoma answered with a nod, while Taichi was busy flipping through his notebook talking about the most recommended spots to watch the fireworks to get the best view. Taichi waved his hand to the girls as Yuya dragged Sakuno away.

Within minutes, the girls were nowhere in sight. Taichi put away his notebook and slung an arm around Ryoma's shoulder as always, a gesture that had started the rumors of him dating the brown-eyed boy.

"Thanks, Ryoma."

Said name raised a brow. "For what?"

Taichi replied with a huge smile. "For coming, desu! I know you wouldn't break our tradition, right?"

The Tennis Prince didn't bother to answer that. He was actually forced by his sister to come along, and he'd regretted it. Ryoma was never a guy to go to festivals for more than five minutes. True, he would keep his promise to watch the fireworks with Sakuno and Taichi every summer, but they would always meet up when it was five minutes away from the actual fireworks display. Not three hours before the fireworks, where people were bustling everywhere. It was all Yuya's idea. He never told anyone that he really loved his sister to bits, but she could really be demanding at some times.

"Ah, nii-chan!"

Speaking of the devil, there she was, running towards the guys with Sakuno behind her. The younger Echizen held up two boxes of Takoyaki for them.

"Here, nii-chan! Um… Taichi-kun too."

Ryoma thought he'd noticed a shade of pink on his sister's cheeks. Was Yuya blushing?

"Ano… Yuya-chan, didn't you say that you wanted to catch some goldfish? I saw a stall nearby, if you're still interested." Sakuno appeared next to his sister, holding up some gold fish coupons.

She was beautiful in her kimono, the faint natural blush on her cheeks made her even prettier. Seeing Sakuno in her kimono, he didn't know if he really regretted coming to the festival with them anymore.

* * *

><p>"A-Ah! Yuya-san! That's too dangerous desu!" Taichi quickly walked towards Yuya, who had been standing too close to the railings.<p>

Sakuno laughed as she noticed the way Yuya nodded meekly at Taichi and as she promised to the blue-haired boy to never stand too close to the edge of the bridge. Taichi could be a really worrywart sometimes, and it never ceased to amuse her when the boy would flail his arms everywhere if he couldn't find Ryoma before his match begun.

"Taichi should really loosen up sometimes."

The deep timbre of his voice caused Sakuno to blush. She forgot that Ryoma was standing next to her, his hands tucked in his pockets as usual.

"Um… Ryoma-kun?" She looked at her hands holding the small fan Yuya gave her as a present.

"Hm?"

She turned her head towards Taichi and Yuya, their eyes eagerly watching the skies, waiting for the fireworks to work their magic. A smile tugged at her lips. The view was picturesque, that it ached to know that all of this would end by the end of the year. Ryoma was leaving after the graduation to stay at the states with Kevin. He would be busy with the coming ATP world tour, and she didn't know when she and Taichi would see him again.

"I… I got asked…"

Ryoma raised a brow. Got asked to what? The summer prom? No, that wasn't possible. She never went to the prom, and he was never one to indulge himself in proms. Ditto for Taichi. The data boy would rather spend his entire night spying on other school teams to gather data.

But then again, he could be wrong. Sakuno had grown into one of the prettiest girls in school. Though to others who prefer the other busty and heavily-powdered girls, a bunch of guys in school had been known to prefer natural ones, and Sakuno was the best example. Sakuno would just might say yes to one of the guys.

And he was right.

"…to the dance. A-And I said yes." She finished, her voice barely audible.

Sakuno expected him to object. To say 'mada mada dane' or 'idiot' or something. At least she would know that he felt the same way as she did for him. But knowing Ryoma, maybe she was asking too much of him. He would never, in a million years, like her more than a friend. However, she still harbored the hopes that he would at least say; No, don't go. Or something like that.

"Who?" He asked, his eyes staring at a spot just above Taichi's head.

And she was wrong. Like always. And it hurt her more than anything. Why was she hurt? She knew they were friends, but it seemed like sometimes, maybe there were times when she felt like he cared for her more than anyone else. She swallowed, fighting the urge to cry. She mustered herself to give him one of her smiles as she looked up at him.

"The school's soccer ace. Miharu Yuuta-kun."

Ryoma fought the urge to look at her. He knew he was stupid. He wished he didn't ask her who'd asked her out. But he didn't know what else to do. The fact that she said yes to someone other than him had made it clear that she was probably not into him anymore. It was most probably that she took him as another best friend. A person where she can rely onto when she got into trouble, time after time.

"Ah, Ryoma-kun. The fireworks!" She put on another fake smile as Ryoma didn't respond to the name she'd just said.

Maybe it was just like that after all.

She was just another best friend to Ryoma. Just like Taichi. She was important to him just as Taichi was to him.

"Beautiful, right? It's so... beautiful, Ryoma-kun." She whispered as the fireworks were released, coloring the dark sky with multiple colors.

As he heard the distant laughter of Yuya and Taichi, he knew that Yuya was wrong about the night being the best night he would experience. Because that very night was not the best night at all. It was the worst. Because for the first time since he'd first encountered Sakuno in high school, he'd made her cry. From the corner of his eye, he could see a tear drop rolling down her cheek.

He closed his eyes, when everyone else was enjoying the spectacular display of the colorful flower petals in the dark, dark sky. He made her cry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Befriending My First Love**

**(By: ShortFingerNails)**

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><p><strong>AN: Yosh, the last chapter of this story. I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far… phew! It was hard work ya know! Haha, anyway, let's read and see what you've got to say ne? It would be a bonus if u leave me a review! *wink***

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><p><strong>#7<strong>

"_No, no, Ryo-kun."_

_Seven year-old Sakuno held up the red apple in front of the dark-haired boy sitting cross-legged beside her. His big white cap drooped over his head and covered one of his amber eyes. He blinked at the braided girl._

"_Bingo?" He said again, pointing to the apple she was holding up with both of her small hands._

_Sakuno shook her head and repeated for the fiftieth time that day. "Ringo!"_

_The boy pouted and decided to eat the apple instead. "Bingo is bingo! Mou, why do I have to play with you? Oyaji promised me he would play tennis with me and nii-chan…"_

_Sakuno sighed as she had to endure the boy's rant. He was not getting it. He was a Japanese too, just like her! Why couldn't he say even the simplest thing in Japanese? He had been calling the apple 'bingo' for the last two hours and she couldn't do anything to change his pronunciation. What's worse was that he had been nagging to her about tennis in pure English! _

"_Ryo-kun, I can't understand you!" She pouted as the boy didn't seem to give up rambling about his favourite sport in English._

_They were boy and girl. Fire and ice. Yin and yang. She called apples 'ringo', but he preferred 'bingo'. She was named 'Sakuno', and he called her 'Sakumo'. He preferred she call him 'Ryoma', but she adored calling him 'Ryo-kun'. But as Rinko called out to them informing that the dangos were ready, they both eagerly left what they were arguing about and hurried to wolf down their __favorite__ delicacy._

_Sakuno's eyes gleamed as she stuffed her mouth with a dango. "I really, really like dango!"_

_Little Ryoma nodded furiously. "Me too!"_

"_Ne, ne, Ryo-kun!"_

"_What?"_

"_When I grow up I wanna make lots and lots of dango!"_

"_Count me in, Sakuma!"_

"_I-It's Sakuno, Ryo-kun! Sa-ku-no!"_

"Na, Ryoma-kun! Watch out!"

Amber eyes blinked at the sudden warning, and the next thing he saw was a green ball heading his way, the smiley face drawn on the tennis ball comically laughing at him as it came to life. Thanks to years of tennis practice, he managed to dodge the whizzing ball, not forgetting to mutter a 'shit'.

The summer breeze gently brushed the side bangs on Yuya's head as she sat on the bench just next to the tennis court. Her voice as she called out to her brother easily drowned out the sound of the large bell in the background of the temple. "Nii-chan, don't daydream! It's your match point!"

Ryoma replied with a 'che' before he turned to a smiling blue-headed friend.

"Oi, Taichi. Trying to kill me?" His voice sounded calmer than he expected, despite the fact that he was quite surprised to have been caught daydreaming in the middle of a game, also Taichi had been calling him 'Ryoma-kun' since the beginning of the game.

The data boy laughed it off and got ready to launch a serve. "Tennis balls don't kill people."

As the ball darted towards Ryoma, the third-year tennis prodigy decided to yank the data boy's nerves again, as he often did.

"You got hit once, and you cried like a girl."

Taichi's cheeks blushed to a bright red and pointed his racket to Ryoma, instantly forgetting about the ball that whizzed past his head.

"I did not desu!"

And just like that, Echizen Ryoma won again.

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><p>Sakuno hesitantly turned to her right and checked out the dark red dress she had on. A blush spread through her cheeks and colored her neck. The dress was like any other dresses she'd worn before, if certain things on the dress were left ignored. The dress was harmless enough; it was a simple sleeveless dress with the front dipping just before the tops of her breasts. She turned a little bit more to the right to check her back. She sighed relieved, glad that at least her back was not exposed. But…<p>

She looked down at her legs. Another blush colored her cheeks as she eyed the knee-high slit at the side of the red dress. Instantly, she dialled her childhood friend.

"T-Tomo-chan!"

"Ah, Sakuno! How about the dress that I mailed you? Nice, right?"

Sakuno frowned as she felt the dress slide apart at the slit and revealed her right leg.

"How can I wear this tonight? I-It's too…"

"Sexy, right? I bet Ryoma will loooove to see your smooth leg! I am such a GENIUS!"

The brunette sighed at the mention of Ryoma's name. Sadly, Ryoma wasn't the one to see her dress, legs and all, it was another guy who was nearly equally as handsome as the tennis captain, with a much more tender personality than Ryoma.

She felt bad comparing Ryoma with the school's soccer ace. Sure, Ryoma wasn't as nice as Miharu was, but it was just in his nature to not give a damn to anything that revolved around him. He might be an Ice Prince sometimes, but the corners of his mouth do tilt up into a smile, once a while. He was actually kind of sweet in his own ways, if only he was with his two best friends.

After Tomoka hung up, Sakuno squared her shoulders and decided to suck it up, as Taichi often said. Her grandmother was out for a summer holiday with her other old friends at a spa somewhere in downtown Kyoto. If the older Ryuzaki was there, Sakuno wasn't sure if the over-aged Seigaku tennis coach would not freak out seeing her wearing a dress qualified for a much sophisticated woman. The old lady would tell Sakuno to wear a long coat over her shoulders, rather than let any pervert take a look at the creamy skin exposed, despite the old woman's clothing when _she _was younger herself.

Her cell phone rang, and Sakuno's heart beat rapidly. She wondered if it was Miharu Yuuta. Ever since she had realized she'd fallen for Ryoma, she never went out on dates. She never had a boyfriend, as Ryoma was her first love. Then she wondered if it was Ryoma. He would know that she was nervous, being brought to a dance for the first time by a guy who was fairly popular at school. If the call was from him, she knew he would tell her not to mess up the dance and not to hurt herself. As she looked at the name displayed on the screen of her cell phone, she knew she was right.

"Um, hello, Ryoma-kun," she answered, a smile gracing her lips as she heard his voice on the other line.

"Ryuzaki," he said, waiting for three seconds to pass when he spoke up again, "…do you know where Yuya is? Did she come to your house?"

Sakuno frowned. "No, she wasn't here. Why? Is Yuya-chan missing?"

She could hear Nanjiroh singing in the background, which suspiciously sounded like 'Kiss me, kiss you, Sakuno-chan, muwah!', and she laughed as Ryoma muttered 'shut up, oyaji' through gritted teeth.

"Ah, she's not at home."

Sakuno glanced at the clock sitting atop her study desk. "Um, maybe she's already at the dance."

Ryoma kept silent for a while, before he replied with an annoyed voice. "Che, I was supposed to bring her there, that baka. Do you know who she went with?"

The brown-haired girl giggled. She could guess who the guy was. "Ne, Ryoma-kun, I think you know."

Silence filled the first ten seconds when suddenly she could hear Ryoma silently cursing under his breath when he seemed to get the vibe. Sakuno laughed.

"Ryoma-kun, it's obvious."

"Hn. When did Taichi… Damn."

Sakuno could hear the shuffle of his clothes when he seemed to find a seat to settle on. "Seems like you're going there by yourself, ne? Or are you staying home, Ryoma-kun?"

"I still need to keep an eye on Yuya, anyway."

Silence. Then the rustle of his clothes again as he spoke. "When is he coming?"

Sakuno sat down on the edge of her bed, supressing a sigh. "In a couple of minutes, I think."

Silence again. Then he cleared his throat. "Don't… do anything stupid."

A smile graced her lips. "Okay."

"And don't trip."

Sakuno glanced at the pair of three-inch stilettos sitting on her bed. "Yes, sir."

"And don't stutter."

A blush colored her cheeks. "R-Roger."

She could hear his steady breathing from the other line, but she couldn't see the tiny smile on his lips as she stuttered at her last response.

The doorbell rang, and Sakuno could sense that Ryoma stood up, ready to hang up.

"A-Ano, Ryoma-kun,"

"Hm?"

She took in a shaky breath, "I-I'll see you there, right?"

Three seconds of silence passed before he replied with a barely audible "Yep".

The doorbell sounded again, and then he hung up.

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><p>Ryoma fought the urge to just turn around to the exit and let his sister enjoy herself as he stepped into the designated ballroom. Heads swivelled to his direction as soon as he opened the doors. Love-patched eyes were directed at him, making him to slightly shudder at the immense feeling of being stared at by lust-filled women eyes. Guys grunted in disapproval at the sight of the single Tennis Prince, knowing all too well that in no time the women would be throwing themselves at him. Then the band struck a number, and the crowd began mingling again, despite the fact that Ryoma sat on one of the barstools; apparently single, making most of the women thinking of ways to approach him. His eyes scanned the area and found Yuya laughing and chatting happily with her friends, a Taichi laughing sheepishly by her side, his headband gone for the night. Deciding that Yuya was still in control – that glob of a sister of his could be a handful sometimes - , his amber eyes scanned the indoor basketball stadium to search for a particular brunette.<p>

Then he found her.

Smiling shyly as Miharu Yuuta stood next to her, talking to his friends about something that made them laugh and Sakuno blush, it was as if he'd seen the most beautiful person in his life. Her red dress was nice.

She turned around as a girl tapped her exposed shoulder, and the single slit on her right revealed her smooth, _smooth _leg.

Very nice indeed.

Ryoma grunted and took a big gulp of the awful-tasting punch. He berated himself for feeling such things for his friend, his best friend who taught him to say 'ringo' in Japanese properly. He glanced again at the girl in the red dress with her hair brought up in a bun, strands falling by the sides of her head framing her face. By doing so, his blood boiled. That Miharu guy was pulling her to the dance floor, and she actually agreed to dance with him. Wait, Miharu _was _her date anyway. A scowl etched onto his face as he realized he was being a jealous brat. He glanced at his watch, and noticed that the ball was actually nearing to an end in about one hour, making him realize that he was already an hour and a half late for the prom the moment he stepped in. He did some equations in his head, and concluded that Sakuno would be spending only another hour with the guy and then Ryoma would do the honour of walking her home before the soccer guy could even say 'No'.

Ryoma mentally grinned smugly as he chugged down yet another cup of awful punch.

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around with his bored-looking face. He supressed the urge to face palm as he was met with two busty third-year girls, who were batting their eyelashes at him. _Kami-sama, do you hate me?_

"Are you alone, Echizen-kun?" Busty girl 1 said as she twisted a strand of her black hair around a finger.

Ryoma opted to stand up from the barstool, and as he did that, he thought of an answer. He wondered if he should ignore the girls and walk away. No, no. That would be rude. Sakuno had once told him he was actually a kind person at heart, and he didn't want to break that impression. Maybe he should just suck it up and tell the girls: 'Yes, I'm alone. Got any problem with that?'. Before he could answer a reply, busty girl 2 clasped her hands behind her to accentuate her chest as she neared Ryoma.

"Can I have a dance with you, Echizen-kun?"

He clenched his teeth to refrain himself from cursing. He looked above her head, not even wanting to latch his eyes onto her assets, freely put on display. He was forced by his mother to keep an eye on his sister, and he was torturing himself seeing Sakuno dance with a guy who was not him, and he just didn't want this. Maybe, no, _surely_ his dad would've loved to be here just looking at the girls, but not him. Suddenly he felt like crying out 'no fair' when his own sister and his best friends were enjoying themselves when he was cornered by two desperate girls.

Someone tugged at his black suit, and he just prayed it was Yuya or Taichi. He turned around, and his lips gave a tiny smile, because it was someone better. Her eyes gleamed and the faint blush on her cheeks accentuated the smile she gave him.

"Ryoma-kun, you're here."

"Of course." He tried not to sound too glad, and it was hard for him because her smile was infectious.

Busty girl 1 and busty girl 2 pouted as they laid their eyes on the brunette smiling up at Ryoma. Noticing the girls eyeing Ryoma, Sakuno smiled at them, making Ryoma wonder if the girls would attack Sakuno for unintentionally interrupting their flirting with him a moment ago.

"Hello Abe-san, Setsu-san."

The one Ryoma assumed to be Abe returned Sakuno's smile ruefully, and extended her hand to shake with Sakuno's.

"Nice to meet you, Ryuzaki-san. I assume Echizen-kun is your date. Or am I wrong?"

_I wish_ Ryoma mused to himself as he heard busty girl 1, also known as Abe… or was it Setsu? He didn't mind remembering the names because he would wake up the next day forgetting anyway.

Sakuno blushed a nice shade of pink when she laughed sheepishly. "N-No, I'm afraid not. I came with Miharu-san."

The one named Setsu made an 'Ah' sound as they heard the bit of news. The girls gave a look at each other and excused themselves a while later, leaving Sakuno looking at Ryoma.

"What?" He asked, his hands shoved into his pockets as usual.

She giggled as she noticed his irritated face, the slight frown forming on his forehead indicated that he would rather be at home than stay at the noisy indoor basketball stadium turned ballroom. The black vest he was wearing covered the stark white shirt underneath it; the four buttons on the front of the jacket were left undone. The bow tie he wore was perfectly tied, a work of Rinko's, maybe.

"Y-You look… good tonight, Ryoma-kun."

The dateless Tennis Prince cleared his throat, effectively stopping the blush threatening to show on his cheeks. He hadn't blushed in a long time, and he only blushed when he was complimented on his looks. And the words coming from Sakuno didn't help at all. He glanced at her and noticed her stilettos. The three-inch high heels made her stood taller than usual, that the top of her head reached his nose. Her small feet curved in a way that made him think of her as – dare he say it – sexy. He refrained himself from growling at the last thought. What's with women feet and high heels these days?

"Thanks." He finally replied, and nearly let out a relieved sigh as he noticed Yuya and Taichi coming towards them.

"Nii-chan! Nee-chan!"

The younger Echizen smiled widely as she and her date came to stand next to Sakuno. She let out a dramatic gasp as she checked out the red dress Sakuno wore.

"Nee-chan, this dress is beautiful! _You _are beautiful! Where did you get this?"

Taichi raised his eyebrows as he noticed that Ryoma was looking somewhere else, an uneasy expression on the captain's face. Then he noticed the knee-high slit that revealed Sakuno's right leg. A mischievous grin spread at his lips and he nudged Ryoma playfully.

"Nice dress, isn't it, Ryoma-_kun?_"

Said name felt one brow twitching as he turned his gaze to the blue-haired newfound nemesis next to him. Taichi really had to say that, didn't he?

"If you don't drop that I swear, Taichi, you're gonna get twenty laps around the courts next Monday."

That faltered the goofy grin on Taichi's face, and was quickly replaced with an unman-like pout.

"You're just jealous because you don't have a date, right?"

If it wasn't for the crowded atmosphere and the inconvenience of the situation, Ryoma would've dragged Taichi to the tennis court by the collar and shoot tennis balls at the data boy like a human sniper; to refine the data boy's tennis skills, of course. But now, he could just think of giving every member of the tennis club run thirty laps around the court. He didn't know why, he just wanted to.

"A-Ano, guys, I want you to meet Miharu-san…"

Ryoma forgot his momentary glaring contest with Taichi and turned his head to Sakuno, who was showing the little group her date. He was Ryoma's height, and Ryoma had to admit that this guy was actually good-looking. Yuya was dumbstruck for a moment. The youngest of the group later smiled widely, hiding the disapproving glint in her eyes as she shook the soccer player's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Miharu-senpai."

Miharu smiled as he took Yuya's hand and shocked everyone by planting a gentle kiss onto the back of her small hand. Ryoma glared, Taichi laughed nervously, Sakuno blushed, and Yuya simply forced out a laugh through her gritted teeth. She had painstakingly reserved that spot for her dear Taichi-kun and this… this… over-mannered and cheesy senpai who didn't deserve Sakuno nee-chan had friggin' kissed that spot. She so hoped that one day her nii-chan would do something about this.

"Glad to meet you too, Miss."

Sakuno laughed sheepishly to ease the tension lingering amongst them and motioned to both Ryoma – who was _trying _not to bear a hole into Miharu's head with his death glares – and Taichi.

"Miharu-san, you already know Ryoma-kun and Taichi-kun, ne? They're my best friends." She said sweetly as she made a please-be-nice-to-him-guys look to both Taichi and Ryoma.

Miraculously, they both for once, complied and shook Miharu's hand when offered, albeit Ryoma grudgingly squeezing the hand a tad bit tighter than necessary.

"Ah, Echizen-san. I've heard a lot about you when I danced with Sakuno-san a while ago. Seems like you three were best friends, the best of the best I assume."

Taichi mentally added _'ARE bestfriends' not 'were bestfriends', _to stop himself from childishly pouting in front of everyone. And who was he to address Sakuno so casually when it was obviously the first time they spoke together. Yuya sent a look towards the data boy and soon after, they excused themselves from the group and walked somewhere else to 'chat with a friend' or something like that.

"Echizen Yuya-san is such an interesting girl... don't you think so, Echizen-san?"

Miharu's dark green eyes complemented the dark brown of his hair as they met with Ryoma's amber gaze. Judging by the way Ryoma's stare hardened, Sakuno suspected he was furious at something. Was he furious of her, or was it Miharu? Why did he need to get worked up anyway?

"You're right." The tennis captain finally answered; his voice dropping to a deep, velvety tone.

Miharu linked his fingers with Sakuno's and pulled the brunette closer to him, earning a blush from Sakuno, and causing Ryoma's hand in his pocket to fist tightly. Sakuno nearly tripped when Miharu suddenly pulled her closer to him, and again, she noticed that Ryoma's eyes turned murderous. He was silent for a while when Miharu spoke.

"Two people will be announced as the Prom Queen and King in about five minutes from now. I wonder who's it going to be, Echizen-san?"

_Well, obviously not you, prick head. _Again, his inner voice spoke. Then he realized he was being upset. Upset about not being the one to hold Sakuno's hand, and totally furious at himself because he knew she was just a friend. She wasn't his to begin with and he should let her chose her guy.

Ryoma was deep in thought when the lights turned off. He could hear Sakuno's gasp. He knew that she hated the dark, and that he wished he would be the one to catch her if she tripped on something in the middle of the darkness.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice announced, as a spotlight lingered around the dark ballroom.

"… it is now the moment we've been waiting for…"

Sakuno could feel Miharu's grasp loosen and she managed to pry her hands off his.

"…with a number of votes from the prom night crew reaching up to 97 votes is…"

The room darkened again for several seconds of suspense, and then lit up again to focus on Miharu Yuuta, clad in his black tuxedo and bow tie.

"…our Prom King, Miharu Yuuta-san!"

Everyone within the darkened ballroom clapped their hands and anticipated the other announcement.

"And following right behind with a number of votes reaching up to 93 votes is tonight's Prom Queen…"

Again, the spotlight lingered around and eventually stopped at Abe, the girl known to Ryoma as busty girl 1.

"… Abe Yura-san!"

The lights flickered open again, instantly lighting the whole area as both King and Queen walked upstage; their photographs standing side by side taken. Ryoma looked over at Sakuno, who the Miharu guy had left for the stage. Girls were looking at her, whispering things that Ryoma knew weren't the least bit nice. She turned to him, her smile never leaving its place on her lovely face.

"Ryuzaki," he said, nearing his brunette friend.

The ring of his cell stopped him. The name displayed on the screen made him mutter a 'damn it' before he answered the call.

"Ryoma, where's Sakuno? I called home but she didn't answer me!"

"She's with me, at the school prom, sensei."

"WHAAAT? I THOUGHT IT WAS TOMORROW! OH GOD, I'M GOING SENILE!" Ryoma's brow twitched as Ryuzaki sensei shouted the words into the receiver. _Old hag._

An explosion of curses were heard, causing Ryoma to hold his cell a foot away from his ear. He loved his ears, and he didn't want to wake up being deaf. Sakuno looked at him, a clueless expression on her face as the crowd around them were cheering at the couple on the stage. She mouthed 'obaa-chan?' to him with her eyebrows raised, earning a small nod from him before he turned around to walk out of the ballroom.

"Then why didn't she answer her cell phone? WHY RYOMA, WHY?"

Ryoma shoved a hand into his pocket and with the last bit of patience he had at that time, he managed to reply with the calmest voice he could muster.

"She left it at home, probably. She didn't bring a purse."

A warm hand rested onto his shoulder, causing him to turn around while a hand held the cell to his ear. Sakuno looked at him, and his breath caught in his throat as she leaned into him and spoke into the phone.

"O-Obaa-chan, how was the spa?"

Almost instantly, Ryuzaki-sensei's ramblings and curses stopped. Her voice turned sickeningly sweet as she spoke to Sakuno through the phone.

"Sorry, Sakuno. I forgot about your prom. Well, the spa was great and…"

Sakuno nodded once in a while as she heard her grandmother talk to her, her body still leaning into his hard chest without her even noticing. Ryoma tried to swallow, but he couldn't. He may seem cold and stoic on the outside, but he was a guy nonetheless. Any guy, even Tezuka, would stay rigid if a girl - as pretty as Sakuno - were to lean onto him. Even a guy as strict as Sanada Genichirou, could do nothing to stop the faint blush threatening to color his cheeks, if he had a girl - as pretty as Sakuno - to speak so close to his mouth without even noticing. And it would take a faggot like Mizuki to have the gall to tell a girl - as pretty as Sakuno - to back off without taking a peek southward where the softest part of her body grazed against his body.

But Ryoma was not the least bit like Mizuki, and he was every bit like Tezuka and Sanada.

He could hear Ryuzaki-sensei calling him through the phone. "Ryoma, can you walk Sakuno home?"

That simple request snapped him out of his awkwardness, and he cleared his throat. "Sure, sensei."

Ryuzaki ended the call with a 'goodnight, Sakuno!' , again making Ryoma aware that Sakuno was too close to him and with the dimmed light in the hallway, people would've assumed that they were kissing or something. Without tearing gazes with Sakuno, his hand tucked his cell phone into a pocket. The muffled sounds from the other side of the door filled the dimly-lit hallway, creating an intoxicating ambience that made Sakuno's brown eyes seem all the more beautiful. He thought he had looked into those eyes so many times that he even knew the shades in her orbs; but he was wrong. He wondered if it was the lighting, but her eyes were of several shades of brown which he thought really exotic. He could discern the faintest shade of deep amber on the outer edges of her iris, followed by another shade of brown –closely resembling cinnamon- , and lastly the darkest shade of brown in her eyes, the color of mahogany framing her dark pupils.

"R-Ryoma… kun?" She said, her breathy whisper making his head spin. He wondered if the punch was spiked.

"Hn?"

Despite the nice blush on her cheeks, Sakuno couldn't bring herself to tear away from Ryoma's gaze. Which was why she still had her hand on his shoulder. And judging by the glazed look in Ryoma's eyes that didn't seem to avert his gaze away from hers, he didn't plan on stepping back to give space between them any time soon. But they were in the middle of the hallway, and someone might just walk out of the door and freeze them in their suspicious position. A position that would make both of them suffer from future scandals.

She finally turned her gaze –reluctantly- to his neatly tied bow tie and released her hold on him, her legs slowly stepping back to give some space between their over-hormone-induced bodies.

"A-Are… you waiting… for Yuya-chan?"

_Yuya? Who's that? Oh, Yuya._ Realizing he had been staring into her eyes, looking like a complete love-deprived, idiot of a man, Ryoma cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Taichi will walk her home." _I guess._ That last one he didn't say it out loud.

A few awkward silence wove its way between the two of them before Ryoma decided he should walk her home. He turned around and headed down the hallway, away from the muffled sounds on the other side of the door.

"Let's go." He said, not even stopping for Sakuno to catch up.

"A-Ah, w-wait, Ryoma-ku- Ow!"

Ryoma stopped, and turned around with a quirked eyebrow. His sighed as he was met with the most clichéd sight if Sakuno were to wear anything taller than an inch on her flat-footed feet. He walked towards her, his eyes never leaving her small hand pressing against her right ankle, and lowered himself onto a knee.

"Baka."

Sakuno laughed shyly as she looked up at his poker face. She was used to being called like that. He always said that when she trips herself, and then as if it wasn't a big bother, he would turn around and order her to hop on for a piggy back. He did just that.

"Hop on."

Like all the other three-hundred-and-fifty-sixth time when he'd done the same for her, she blushed and shyly climbed onto his back.

"S-Sorry." She whispered into his ear, making his stomach tingle ridiculously.

"Betsuni." Was his over-calm response.

As if she was not the least bit heavier than his Karupin, he stood up and started walking, very carefully placing his hands somewhere more modest and reminding himself not to take a peek at her exposed leg. As they were halfway towards the lockers, Sakuno was reminded of the rumors that spread throughout the school before the prom began.

"A-Ano… Ryoma-kun… I heard that you were supposed to be the prom king…ne?"

Sakuno wasn't so sure if she was conscious because it was as if Ryoma had shuddered as she mentioned him being the prom king. But his steps didn't falter one bit so she assumed she was imagining things.

However Sakuno was right. He was supposed to be the night's prom king, but he had declined since the very beginning. He himself had walked up to threaten –uhm- _meet_ the student council members to wipe his name off the candidate's list. Once during his third year in junior high was enough for him. Ryoma had never asked for it either. Who knew American girls liked Asian guys too? The girls were devastated when he left not five minutes after he stepped onto the stage for the blinding flashlights. When he came to school for the last day, half of the school's girl population thrashed him with insults and also some unpleasant sights all the way from school to his home. Guys called him heartbreaker and said the girls were victims of his charms. Hey, he was the victim at that time. The other girls had stayed loyal to him by fighting off the female attackers; and he had yet to say thanks to them despite him being cold to them.

"Once was enough." He replied, his voice remaining as calm as ever.

Sakuno leaned forward a fraction, a brow lifted. "Why?"

"The flashlights were annoying."

Sakuno giggled. "I didn't know American girls liked Asian boys. Ryoma-kun must be happy, being surrounded by a sea of blonde hair."

Ryoma stopped and purposely jerked her body, earning a surprised yelp from Sakuno. He didn't like it that his friend was teasing him. He wasn't his dad, be it a sea of blonde or not. He preferred a Japanese girl with braided hair, or to put it bluntly, the one giggling on his back while he was doing her a favour of not just leaving her on the ground with a twisted ankle.

"Where's the thanks that I deserve?" He asked, his voice sounding exasperated as he jerked her once again before continuing to walk.

"A-Arigatou, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno managed to say between bits of giggles as she tightened her grip onto Ryoma.

"Betsuni."

* * *

><p>"Thank you, Ryoma-kun." She said again for the fifth time since getting out of the cab.<p>

Said name was very sensible enough to sit her onto a bench, change her high heels with a pair of pin soles from her locker at school, before he hailed a cab to her house. After a few murderous daggers aimed towards the driver for checking out Sakuno's leg the moment they stepped out of the cab, Sakuno found herself utterly grateful that Ryoma had been to the ball and brought her home. Ryoma eyed her amusingly as she hopped the few steps to her door; and the amused look quickly changed to that of utter disbelief as she bent down to reveal the keys from underneath a flower pot by the window sill.

"Are you crazy? Someone could've entered your house as easily as you did just now." He grumbled under his breath as they stepped into the two-storey house, with the intention for Sakuno to hear and begin taking precautions.

Sakuno giggled as she pulled out the red jades she'd been wearing before to the fireworks display, and her long hair spilled to her shoulders; making Ryoma's hazed mind stir around creating a weird feeling inside of him, which people rather call amazement.

This could not be happening, Ryoma thought.

He shook his head and closed the door.

"Sit down." He instructed and shrugged off his jacket and vest, placing the pieces of attire onto a chair in the kitchen.

Sakuno didn't sit down on the couch and hopped towards the kitchen instead. "Wait, I should make some tea."

Ryoma sighed as he looked at the girl hopping towards the kitchen with one foot, barely moving from the couch. She yelped as he decided to scoop her up bridal style and sat her onto the leather couch. A brilliant blush colored her cheeks as the Tennis Captain rolled up his sleeves and walked into the kitchen, only to come back with a small basin of warm water and a small towel he pulled out from one of the kitchen drawers. He knelt on one knee as he took her bare foot into his hands, his right thumb gently caressing her hurt ankle.

"R-Ryo-Ryoma-kun…"

Oblivious to Sakuno's reaction to his touches, Ryoma lightly stroke her ankle. "It should be here…" He stopped prodding when he heard her gasp. Without looking up, he placed her foot into the warm water and with both hands, he started to massage her swollen foot.

"U-Um… Ryoma-kun, what are you doing?" She asked, the blush on her cheeks deepened with every touch he made.

"I used to see oyaji doing this to okaa-san when she came back from work with a swollen foot. This should soothe the pain a bit."

Minutes went by with the two of them keeping quiet, and before she knew it, Ryoma had already discarded the water and came back to tend to her foot with a bandage in his hands. The emergency kit had been too easy to find, being on display atop the fridge in the kitchen, just the right place for Sakuno to injure herself as usual.

"How did you even trip yourself, really…" he said again after a few moment of silence.

Sakuno decided to answer with one of her sheepish laughter, making the amber-eyed male lift his face to meet her eyes.

"H-Honestly, I really d-don't know. M-Maybe I got a little too excited."

Oh, the prom. He was already beginning to forget that horrible experience, and all the horrible situations he got himself into. He turned to her ankle again, and instead of bandaging her, his thumb traced the outline of her ankle and her heel. He toyed with the thought of touching her dainty toes too, but decided against it. He stopped for a while as he heard her wince when he pressed that same spot he'd touched earlier, and judging by the mushy spot where the fluids began to accumulate, he assumed that she would wake up the next day with a swollen ankle.

"You'll be waking up with a swollen ankle tomorrow." He calmly stated as he began bandaging her small foot.

A small smile graced Sakuno's lips as she observed Ryoma, carefully wrapping her ankle with the bandage with a skilful hand. He might have done a good job of bandaging his own foot if he ever twisted his ankle or something similar.

"Ryoma-kun…" she asked as she leaned forward a fraction.

"Hm?" He replied nonchalantly.

Her small hand ran through his locks, and pushed some strands of his dark hair behind an ear, instantly making him stop at his ministrations. He lifted his face to meet her gaze.

"Why are you… so nice to me?" She asked, her smile never leaving its place.

Ryoma looked at her with the pair of the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen, and those eyes were the ones that drew her to him even when they were kids years ago. Although he would never admit it, the Tennis Prince had always been there for her when she needed him the most, even though way before they met Taichi. He had been there when she'd been bullied by others so many times that she even lost count. And when he'd gone to America during their junior high years, she'd never felt so insecure in her life. Sure, Tomoka and the senpais were there, but it felt different when he was by her side. Even with that poker face of his, he still managed to exude an air of protectiveness whenever she came close to him.

When he'd come into the class during the first year of high school, she'd been so happy. So happy that she'd never even uttered a word to him when they would coincidentally lock gazes. She'd just averted her eyes elsewhere, making it look as if the only best friend she had was Taichi.

"You're my friend." He asked, his eyes lowering to focus on her chin.

Sakuno withdrew her hand and folded her hands together into her lap. She knew they were friends, but Taichi had never been the one to offer her a piggy back, the data boy would call Ryoma to do the honours. And the way Taichi held her hand felt nothing like the way Ryoma's touch had been, even if it was just a slight brush. She never felt the warm tingling in her stomach whenever Taichi smiled his brightest smile at her, but the slightest hint of a smile from Ryoma was enough to make her love him even more than the day before.

"Then why do I feel this way when I'm with you?" She blurted out, her voice so low she even thought that Ryoma couldn't hear her.

She was wrong. He heard her clearly enough.

"They'll wear off when I'm gone." He replied, his eyes never meeting hers.

Sakuno bit her lip as the words came out, and she didn't which hurt her more; her ankle or the pain in her chest.

"How do you know that, Ryoma-kun?" She asked, tears threatening to roll down her cheeks.

He didn't answer her, because he wasn't so sure himself. He could be dense, but he could make out the times when he actually felt like there was something between them.

"I'll be going to America, I'll be leaving you and Taichi, and you'll shake off those feelings for me. Most people do that." He said impassively as he fastened the bandage into place.

Unable to hold back, Sakuno cupped his face with her hands so that she could look him in the eye and know that he didn't mean what he said. His eyes softened at the sight of the tears streaming down her face, her beautiful face. He wished he could wipe those tears away and kiss the tear stains away. He wanted to hold her and tell her he didn't mean what he said, that he said those words because he didn't want to lose her as a friend, even if it meant loving her secretly.

"B-But I'm not most people… Ryoma-kun."

Of course she wasn't like any other else. She was different from the others, that was what attracted him in the first place.

"Yes, Ryuzaki… You're not…" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Although he knew it had been hard for her, she managed to smile at him through those tears.

"You always call me that. Even as a child, you never called me Sakuno."

He rested his hands on either side of her hips. "I don't want to lose you… as a friend…"

Her smile grew wider, but the tears were still there. He wanted to reach a hand to wipe her tears, but only his voice came out. "Don't cry, Ryuzaki."

Sakuno leaned forward slightly. "Nanoji-san calls me Sakuno, Taichi-kun calls me Sakuno, Yuya-chan calls me Sakuno, even Momo-chan senpai and Eiji-senpai too… But why have you never called me by my given name?"

He had considered calling her Sakuno many times. He WANTED badly to call her Sakuno, that he even hated it when he called her Ryuzaki. But he was afraid, HE was afraid that if he called her Sakuno, she would know how much he loved her, how he longed to have her smile at him if he called her by her given name. He was afraid that if she knew he thought of her more than just a friend, everything would change. She would be heartbroken again if he left her, and all the years of building their friendship with Taichi would crumble to pieces. He was fine if he lost her love, her heart, but he couldn't take it if he lost her as his friend. He couldn't risk living his days with her hating him. He couldn't.

"Would anything change, Sakuno?" He asked, his eyes searching her brown gaze for comfort. He wanted to see her looking back at him and tell him nothing would change.

"Yes," She said, her smile never leaving her lips, before she leaned forward and said closely to his mouth. "…for the better."

Her tears were gone, her eyes were shining. He didn't know if he should hug her or kiss her or both. Before he could utter a word, her next words made it clear to him that everything was going to be alright.

"I love you, Ryoma-kun. And I'll wait for you."

He didn't know when his lips turned up into a smile, a smile so genuine that it made Sakuno's heart beat against her chest so hard.

"Wait for me."

She managed to whisper, "I will", before he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers lightly.

"Wait for me." He breathed against her mouth.

"I will." She whispered back.

The leather material of the couch creaked lightly as he leaned further towards Sakuno, his hands pressed into the soft couch as he kissed her as if he'd lose her the next minute. She could feel his lips tugging up into a tiny smile as she kissed back, letting him run his tongue over her bottom lip. A soft moan escaped her throat as she brought her hands to his face and along his jaw, way up into his locks, and leaning into his direction.

The blush on her cheeks deepened as she felt his thumb tracing the outline of her bandaged ankle, slowly upwards her calf, higher up along her smooth shin and stopped just below her knee cap. And that was when they broke the kiss for a much needed air supply.

"Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno breathed heavily against his mouth, her eyes focusing onto his gaze.

"Hm?"

"T-The ph-phones… ringing."

A devilish smirk stretched across his mouth as he pulled back to look into her flushed face.

"Aren't you gonna pick answer?"

The blush deepened as she answered with a shy smile of her own.

"No."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Aha! As usual, coming from me, the kissing scenes are quite-not-quite detailed, and yes, I know, Ryoma's being quite a pervert in this chapter. Can't help it, he IS a guy anyway. And he IS Nanjiroh's son. Right?**


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